Whisenhunt blows it again

[Atlanta Dan]

B&G Forever - certainly did not want to imply and do not believe I was taking a shot at you.

However, since you and I both have been watching the same, to use your term, f***king games, you asked with apparent sincerity how can anyone bitch about the defense. I thought it was a fair response. Ask and you shall receive :)

Ben has been a major disapointment but a great defense has to deal with it (the '76 Steelers went on their roll after Mike Kruczek replaced an injured Bradshaw at QB). To use a less cosmically great D as an example, Baltimore has not been lighting anyone up on the scoreboard the last several weeks but if the Ravens D played in the 4th Q the way the Steelers D has played they would have been in no position to beat the Chargers and Browns with their offense scoring a total of 16 and 15 points in those 2 games.

[HometownGal]

Originally Posted by Atlanta Dan

The D is not blameless in this slide

1. Several failures to stop Jax on 3rd and long deep in Jax territory in second half

2. 98 (?) yard drive by Cincy after Ben throws the INT into the end zone
Cincy TD drive with a little over a minute left in first half
2 Cincy TDS on first plays after the 4th Q turnovers

3. 90 yard Chargers TD drive
4 possessions/4 scores by Chargers in second half

You win as a team and lose as a team - this has been a combined offense/defense/special teams effort

Bravo Dan!! When the facts stare you straight in the eyes, there's no denying 'em. I do, however, cut a little slack to the D, as they were on the field for almost 34 minutes in the Chargers game and when they picked off Rivers early in the 1st quarter, the O did not take advantage of that opportunity to turn Rivers' fubar into their gain. The Chargers, however, did take advantage of Ben's two picks, converting both INTs into a total of 10 points, the difference in the final score.

What I don't understand on the defensive side, though, is why LaBeau abandoned the pass rush, which was so effective in the first half. While I am sure the Chargers' OL coach made some adjustments to compensate for the Steelers' successful pursuit of Rivers, I didn't see much - if any - pass rush by our D in the second half.

[steeler stev]

Originally Posted by Atlanta Dan

The D is not blameless in this slide

1. Several failures to stop Jax on 3rd and long deep in Jax territory in second half

2. 98 (?) yard drive by Cincy after Ben throws the INT into the end zone
Cincy TD drive with a little over a minute left in first half
2 Cincy TDS on first plays after the 4th Q turnovers

3. 90 yard Chargers TD drive
4 possessions/4 scores by Chargers in second half

You win as a team and lose as a team - this has been a combined offense/defense/special teams effort

The majority of those opponents accomplishments came in the second half and I'm pretty sure our defense was on the field for at least 25 of the 30minutes in the first half. Our special teams put us in binds right from the very start of the game and our offense hardly ever shows up to the games. Lets run Paker AND DAVENPORT ALOT MORE to give our defense a rest.

[stlrtruck]

Originally Posted by HometownGal

What I don't understand on the defensive side, though, is why LaBeau abandoned the pass rush, which was so effective in the first half. While I am sure the Chargers' OL coach made some adjustments to compensate for the Steelers' successful pursuit of Rivers, I didn't see much - if any - pass rush by our D in the second half.

It's difficult to have a rush of any kind when the adjustments made by the other team include max protect. Also, if you notice our rushers continually ran to the outside, leaving the passing/running lanes wide open for Rivers. As I recall several games last year, our outside blitzers would roll off their blockers into that gap, thus eliminating any hope of a rush and guarenteeing either an incomplete pass, an interception, or a sack. That would get our D off the field on 3rd down (something they haven't done successfully this year) and give our offense opportunities to do their thing (something they haven't done at all this year either) - a responsibility that goes to the Offensive Coordinator and HC!